Set in the world of Thedas, players assume the role of Hawke, a human mage, rogue, or warrior who arrives in the city of Kirkwall as a lowly refugee, and becomes its legendary champion over a turbulent decade of political and social conflict.

They improved the Eclipse Engine, renaming it Lycium, to enhance the game's visuals and lighting, and accommodate a new art style inspired by movies like Yojimbo and Conan.

The game received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its gameplay, companions and writing; although changes to the storytelling structure and the combat system had a more mixed reception.

Varric, Hawke's companion, relates the Champion's "true story" to his interrogator Cassandra Pentaghast (Miranda Raison), mainly based on the protagonist's choices.

Optional companions include Fenris (Gideon Emery), a powerful elven warrior seeking revenge on his former slaver; and Isabela (Victoria Kruger), a confident and promiscuous pirate captain searching for a coveted relic.

Sebastian Vael (Alec Newman), a master archer and pious layman of the Kirkwall Chantry, can be recruited via the downloadable content, The Exiled Prince.

The story starts shortly after the Battle of Ostagar, with the Hawke family escaping their home village of Lothering in Ferelden with a darkspawn horde in pursuit.

Flemeth, a witch who can assume the form of a dragon, helps the party escape to Kirkwall, a city across the sea, provided Hawke completes a task for her.

A year later, a prosperous opportunity presents itself to Hawke; Varric and his brother Bartrand are planning a treasure hunting expedition into the perilous region of the Deep Roads.

Three years later, the Viscount of Kirkwall summons Hawke to help resolve a political situation caused by the foreign military forces of the Qunari.

Hawke resolves to uncover "O", the identity of the serial killer's accomplice, but eventually discovers the reason the Qunari refuse to leave Kirkwall is because Isabela stole a coveted artifact from them, which they are not allowed to return to their homeland of Par Vollen without.

Constant violence between the two sides forces the Champion of Kirkwall to intervene, during which a group of anti-Meredith rebels kidnap Hawke's surviving sibling/closest friend.

They end up killing both Orsino, who is surmised to have been "O", and Meredith, who bought the lyrium idol from Bartrand, which has corrupted her mind and convinced her to go through a mass extermination of mages.

Cassandra lets Varric go and leaves with Leliana and fellow Seekers, believing that since both Hawke and the Warden (if alive) have disappeared, they must be found to stop the war.

Publisher Electronic Arts gave BioWare only 14 to 16 months to finish the game's development, forcing the team to crunch for an extended period.

Despite this, the bird's-eye view from Origins was removed as the team wanted to create more varied scenery for players without needing to "slice off" the top of a room.

[9] Laidlaw added the gameplay is more tactical in nature as the team overhauled the combo system which prompts players to make use of all the classes' talents.

As a result, the team decided to make the narrative more "personal", focusing on one character over the course of several years with a framed structure that allows the story to skip periods that do not interest players.

Gaider believed this approach introduced new opportunities for storytelling, as consequences of a player's decisions can be highlighted further, and the state of the game's world can be radically changed.

[41] As the game focuses on Hawke's family and their adventures in the world, Zur used a string quartet to play the solo, while the orchestra had a supporting role.

They’ll play Fallout, Assassin’s Creed and even Call of Duty, which have these progression elements – you’re putting points into things – but they don’t necessarily associate that as an RPG.

[56] An expansion pack entitled The Exalted March had been in development, but was cancelled as the studio decided to focus on tweaking the Frostbite engine, which would be used for their future games.

[58] The six-part webseries premiered on October 10, 2011, one day before the release of the Mark of The Assassin DLC pack where Tallis appears as a guest companion.

[69] Sharkey liked the three-act structure, comparing it to "historical fiction reads" that explores a "tumultuous period in a fully realized fantasy world".

[64] VanOrd disliked the game's storytelling, however, calling it a "downward turn" from Origins as it lacked a central goal that engaged players, thus making the story less epic than it should be.

[65] Both VanOrd and Eurogamer's Dan Whitehead noted the game drew inspiration from real-life events when the writing team created the setting and its cultural and political conflicts.

[63] Revisiting Dragon Age II in 2015, Chris Thursten of PC Gamer praised the game's handling of its roster of companions, noting that "they have their own homes, jobs and opinions".

He noted that Hawke's decade in Kirkwall is primarily an exploration of these relationships and concluded that "BioWare has not created a narrative with this much nuance since, nor so many clever moments...".

An EA representative responded after much online controversy saying it is normal for people who work on a game to like and support it, though it is unclear if Hoban acted on his own or at the behest of the company.

[82] Dragon Age II was the best-selling retail game in the UK in its week of release according to Chart-Track, outselling competitors including Pokémon Black and White.